Wpov
In the end, it took ten more days until Cali's case went before a judge. In those ten days I didn't see her much, but I told myself it would be worth it when she'd be allowed to come live with us. I'd said it to myself so many times I'd almost convinced myself of it. I was sure that when her court date came I would feel relief, but now that the day was here I was terrified.
It didn't help that in the time she'd been there, several kids had come and gone from the shelter, and from what it sounded like, all of them had been sent to foster homes. I tried not to think about it. I tried telling myself that Cali's case was different, but in the end the circumstances mattered very little. It was up to the judge.
"It'll be fine." I said not sure who I was reassuring, squeezing Cali's hand as we waited in the court house and feeling like I was going to sweat through my suit.
We were both dressed in our best trying to make a good impression on the judge, but we'd been asked to leave the room while she talked to the social worker Cali had been assigned and my parents. A few feet away, a staff member of the shelter was standing keeping an eye on Cali, but we were ignoring him.
"She hates me." Cali said quietly looking at the floor. She was in a pretty white dress which gave her the appearance of innocence and her hair had been brushed back by my mother into a head band.
"The judge or your social worker?" I asked looking down at her. Both were women.
"Both." She said looking up at me with anxious, light blue eyes. "I've lied to and used charmspeak on my social worker so much she hates me on sight until I use it on her again, and the judge was the one who charged me with trying to steal that car."
"You're a different person now." I said consolingly. "And you didn't steal the car. That wasn't your fault."
"They don't know that!" she said sounding a little hysterical.
It was alarming to see her like this, almost frightening. She was trembling, I'd never seen her looking so scared in her life.
"Will," she said so softly I could barely hear her. "What if this doesn't work? What if they decide to take me away?"
Words failed me. Unlike years ago when I'd first met her, where my main concern would have been how did I protect someone who was being bounced around in the foster system, now I couldn't imagine my life without her. What if they did take her away? Would she have to drop out of school? Stay at camp until she was eighteen and legally aloud to take care of herself? Only seeing her at school and a few hours at the shelter was bad enough, but not seeing her for months… How was I going to do that?
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. If we get there," I said trying to keep my voice calm. "Nothing's been decided yet."
She shook her head apparently losing the ability to speak at this point. Several people were glancing at us, obviously wondering what two teenagers were doing sitting on their own in the middle of the court house.
An hour passed, and then another. Her hand was in mine for a while and while I felt frozen, she couldn't seem to sit still. She alternated from sitting, to standing, to pacing in front of the bench but nothing seemed to help. She looked sick to her stomach.
"Cali, you're going to wear a hole in the floor." I said eventually and while she didn't answer, she let me pull her back to sitting next to me. Wanting to get her mind off it, I helped her review her lines for the musical the school was putting on at the end of the year, and I was glad it seemed to work. She'd stopped trembling at any rate and Madison had been right, acting was something Cali seemed to genuinely enjoy.
Finally, after Cali and I had been sitting for almost three hours, the door to the judge's office opened and Cali's social worker walked out.
She glanced at Cali, her expression impossible to read but her eyes cold and appraising.
She was soon followed by Dave and my mother and Cali stood so quickly, she dragged me, who was still holding her hand, with her.
"What did she say?" Cali asked quietly, so nervous she was gripping my hand so tight I was losing feeling in my fingers.
"I'm sorry Cali." My mom said consolingly and Cali fell back onto the bench putting her head in her hands, tears in her eyes, but then my mother smiled. "I'm not sure how we're going to fit all your stuff in our guest room."
"What?" she said looking up suddenly and I turned to my mother.
"We did it?" I asked in disbelief.
"We did it." Dave said smiling as, tears sliding down her cheeks, Cali tackled my mother into a hug which she returned and Dave continued. "Cali's been legally emancipated from her father and is going to live with us as her guardians. She's coming home with us."
"Oh honey, it's ok." My mother said stroking Cali's hair as her shoulders shook more tears flooding down her cheeks with no signs of letting up.
"Thank you." She muttered her voice breaking.
"Of course dear." My mother said smiling and looking at me, her eyes also looked rather wet, but I couldn't stop staring at Cali.
"We did it." I said softly as my mother continued speaking softly to Cali who was smiling and wiping her eyes. "I can't believe we actually did it."
Dave put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with something like pride, and the realization of what had happened was starting to sink in.
Cali was free.
She was going to finally be living in a stable home, with people who cared about her. Who loved her. And if her father ever did come back, he couldn't hurt her ever again. We had every legal right to keep him away if he tried to come after her. But none of that, not a single part of it was as significant to me as the tears that were still sliding down her cheeks as Dave also pulled her into a hug.
My parents started making plans for changing her documents at school, getting her medical information, and plans for moving her things from her apartment into ours, but I ignored this and continued to look at her.
Cali. The girl who wasn't afraid of anything, who hated emotion, who spent so long convinced she hated love and could never have a family or be happy, was crying with that very emotion, and it didn't look like she could stop.
I smiled as she turned to me, so happy she couldn't speak and I pulled her into a tight hug relief flooding through me like a life saving breath after almost drowning.
"Well I think a celebratory dinner is in order." Dave said and we all turned to him. "Cali, why don't you call your brother and we can all go out tonight? As a family."
I watched as Cali's eyes went wide as she recognized that for the first time, that included her. As the realization dawned on her she smiled, her eyes shining.
I took her hand as we left the court house and she dialed Max's number. I could hear the excitement in his voice through the speaker as she told him the news. I didn't I'd ever seen her smile so wide.
It ended up being a pretty late night, but also one of the best nights of my life. Usually pretty contained, Cali spent most of dinner laughing with her brother and talking animatedly with my parents and I.
Afterwards, Dave dragged us to book store to get Cali SAT prep books saying now that he was in charge of her education there was no way a child in his care wasn't going to college. She didn't even complain as he started making a study schedule for her.
On the way home from the store, we passed a free concert that was being hosted by several local bands in the park and my mother suggested we check it out. She took so many 'first family photos' that her phone ran out of space.
We finally made it back to the apartment at around eleven and after we'd stepped through the front door, we all paused. It seemed to hit us all at the same time the reality of the situation.
"Well." Dave said a little awkwardly as my hand found Cali's. "Now that you're here I guess we should settle some ground rules."
"I think that can wait until tomorrow." My mother said putting a hand on his shoulder and kissing his cheek.
He hesitated, but glanced at Cali and I and said. "Alright."
"Welcome home Cali." My mother said brightly and giving her a tight hug which Cali returned. "I'm going to go find some sheets for the guest bed. Or I guess it's Cali's bed now."
She released Cali, walking to the closet where we kept things like towels and extra sheets while Dave went to put her prep books in her room, muttering something about getting a "proper bookshelf" and I knew he was still thinking about the one at the shelter. He seemed personally offended by it.
They drifted off to their room and eventually, I kept my promise to Cali letting her pick a movie for us to watch, but I don't think I'd ever been less interested in a film and it wasn't because the words 'love' and 'secret' and 'kiss' were in the title. I'd pulled her in my lap as we watched, rested my chin on the top of her head, and locked my arms around her, half convinced I wouldn't release for the next several days. I didn't want to let her go. Being able to hold her meant she was there, that this was reality and not some sort of dream. Part of me was terrified I'd wake up and she'd be gone but as long as I could feel her I knew it was real.
We didn't move for a long time, even after the movie ended. Neither of us spoke but we didn't have to. I didn't even know what I would have said if I'd tried. Words didn't seem to hold enough meaning for how I felt at the moment. She was leaning against my chest and eventually I felt her body relax, and suddenly, she muttered something in French. I wasn't exactly great with languages, but from what I remembered of what she'd taught me, I recognized the word for bicycle.
"Cali." I said grinning slightly knowing what this meant.
"Mmm?" she asked quietly shifting slightly in my arms.
"You're talking in your sleep."
"What did I say?" she asked rubbing her eyes.
"I don't know." I said honestly. "It was in French. But we probably should go to bed." I said glancing at the clock on the DVD player which read three forty five.
"Mine or yours?" she asked still sounding half asleep and I laughed.
"Both. You go to yours and I'll go to mine. Otherwise Dave will kill us."
"Yeah you're probably right." She said sounding a little more awake and I finally released her.
She slid off the couch and got to her feet, but took my hand and together we walked through the now dark apartment to her new room.
"I still can't quite believe this is happening." She said softly looking around the room.
It was small but I knew she didn't care. The way she was looking at it was as if she'd stepped into a palace.
"Part of me doesn't want to go to sleep." She said still taking in the room. "I keep thinking if I go to sleep, when I wake up none of this will have happened."
"I know how you feel. Seems almost too good to be true right?" I said and she glanced at me.
"It's not a dream, right?" she asked softly. "I mean I know it's not." She shook her head. "But every night at the shelter I dreamed about this and you, and just when I started to really believe it was real, I'd wake up and-"
But I held her face between her hands and kissed her, really kissed her, for the first time since this whole nightmare had started and she was kissing me back in a way she never had before.
She was still wearing the dress my mother had picked out that was supposed to make her look sweet rather than a troubled kid, but the look she gave me when we broke apart was far from innocent. It reminded me of when she'd kissed me at the shelter and I couldn't seem to look away.
Her back hit the wall and I pulled myself closer to her as our lips met again and hands slid up my chest and around my neck as we continued to kiss. My heart hammered against my chest as I pulled her closer still, but I knew I had to stop things before they went too far.
"I should probably go." I said regretfully breaking away from her.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." She said quietly and maybe it was because she was a daughter of Aphrodite, or just because she was Cali, but as soon as she said it I felt rooted to the spot.
"I don't want to." I said with a slight laugh. "But I wouldn't put it passed Dave to put a lock on your door."
"Wouldn't matter much to you would it?" she asked with a smile that made me question if I really wanted to leave.
"No." I admitted brushing a strand of her hair from her face. "But do you really want to start that fight?"
"You've got a point." She said and I knew that like me, she was far too grateful for what my parents had done for her to try and mess it up. "I guess I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah." I said with a nod and then with a great effort, I let her go and straightened up. "Night Cal."
"Night." She said softly and I hesitated for just a second, before turning to leave the room.
I'd just made it to the door when she spoke.
"Will?"
"Yeah?" I asked looking back at her.
"Thank you. For everything. If you hadn't-"
"Cali this was my parents." I said shaking my head.
"It was you too." She said walking to me and looking at my hands as she took them in her own. "If it wasn't for you none of this would have happened. You never gave up on me, no matter what I did you were always there. I don't know what would have happened to me if you weren't." she took a deep breath and looked up at me and while her tone was even her eyes were anxious, as if she were afraid to admit what she was about to say to herself, not just to me. "I don't know what I would do without you."
"You're not going to have to worry about that Cali." I said softly.
"Yeah, but what if-" she started fearfully but I cut her off.
"I'm always going to be in your life. No matter what happens, if you love me or hate me for it, I will always be here."
"Promise?" she asked softly and I smiled, but felt guilt surge through me. She was looking at me with an expression of complete trust that I did not deserve.
"I promise." I said and I found that even though she was all I wanted to see, it was difficult to look at her.
It wasn't a lie. Even if I hadn't been working for her mother, I would never leave Cali on her own. I wanted to be in her life, but if she'd known about my deal with her mother and how all this started, would she still want me?
I was able to justify ignoring this when she smiled. Did it really matter? If she was happy that's what was important right?
"I'll see you tomorrow." She said standing on her toes and kissing me on the cheek. "I love you Will."
"Love you too Cal." I said and with one final smile she closed her door.
Cpov
"I swear you have the strangest life I've ever seen Cal." Max said looking through his yearbook as we sat together in Sacchi's diner after his practice and my rehearsal. "How do you go from hating a guy for years, to winning cutest couple with him in the span of less than a school year? I mean, you're even living with Will now."
"What's your point?" I asked.
It was just us today. Three weeks had passed since I'd moved in with Will and his parents and it had become part of Max and my routine to meet at Sacchi's on Wednesday after school. While monsters still attacked occasionally, and Will had gotten into a slight disagreement with a confused minor god who thought Will was his son, everything in my life was going right for once.
"My point is how do you go from this," he said gesturing towards a picture of a pep rally where I was standing with the rest of the juniors, my hood up and looking like I wanted to strangle people around me. "To that." He finished flipping to the picture of me and Will in the superlatives.
"People change." I said shrugging taking a french-fry off his plate.
"Get your own food." He said annoyed.
"Can't, forgot my wallet." I said taking another fry.
"So?" he asked raising an eyebrow while reaching for his soda. "You can always get stuff for free."
"I'm trying not to do that anymore." I admitted and he choked on his drink.
"Ok it's official." He said through coughs as he set his glass back down. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"
"Very funny." I said rolling my eyes and he grinned.
"You know you're all over this thing this year." He said looking through the yearbook some more.
"Really?" I asked in surprise. I hadn't bothered to order one.
"Yeah. Drama pictures, track pictures, you're even in the one about the language department, maybe one of the kids in the yearbook club has a crush on you."
"Well they'll be disappointed," I said shrugging. "I kind of have a prejudice against photographers."
His smile faded and he looked angry.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me all the horrible stuff he did to you." He said quietly, glaring out the window.
"Max, I don't want to talk about Dad." I said shaking my head.
"How can you still call him that?" he asked furiously.
"He is our Dad."
"That man is not my father." He spat in disgust and shifted his gaze. "And you should have told me."
"We've been over this, what good would it have done?" I asked with a sigh. "You were a kid."
"You're only two years older than me!" he said angrily. "Someone should have done something. You should have told someone."
"They would have taken me away." I said. "Would you have wanted that?"
"No." he said uncertainly, but suddenly looked angry again. "But I wouldn't have wanted you to be a punching bag either."
"Well it's over now. Even if he does come back, it's done."
"Do you think he ever will?"
"I've no idea." I said honestly. "Who knows? Maybe he's better off where he is."
"Well you certainly are." He said bitterly and as if he couldn't resist he said. "Cali, you should have told me."
"Max…" I started but he cut me off, his voice filled with a bitter sadness.
"You shouldn't have had to be alone."
"I wasn't alone." I said quietly. "I thought I was for a while there, but I wasn't. Not really."
"Will?" he asked and I nodded.
"Yeah he was always looking out for me." I said smiling slightly. "You know he punched dad once."
"Really?" Max asked looking happier.
"Yeah." I said with a slight laugh. "Knocked him out cold."
"Of course he did." Max said amused and we fell into a brief silence where he watched as I continued to steal fries from him.
"You know I'm really happy you got out of there Cal." He said eventually, his voice so full of sincerity I looked up at him.
He still looked sad, but his voice was steady when he continued.
"I guess I can kind of see why you hate your mom too. She left you in that situation and never bothered to see if you were ok. I might argue with my mom all the time, but she'd never let that happen to me. I guess that's why she didn't want me to see you or my dad either. She didn't want me to get sucked in."
I didn't know what to say to this, so I said nothing, but I continued to look at him as he spoke.
"I'm really glad you have Will now too. I think he's good for you, you know?"
"Yeah, me too." I said going back to unpacking and he hesitated for a second before continuing.
"So how is it living with him?"
"It's good." I said honestly.
"No problems?"
"He takes forever in the shower, but that's about it." I said shrugging but when I caught his expression I frowned. "Why?"
He looked embarrassed.
"I overheard him talking to Chris," he said uncomfortably. "He said you were having nightmares."
"It's not a big deal." I muttered looking at the table.
"Is it like when were kids?" he asked quietly. Max had been old enough to remember when my powers had started to develop, along with the nightmares that so often plagued demigod life. "You always thought they meant something bad was about to happen."
"What could happen?" I asked trying to avoid his question but feeling as if I'd accidentally issued a challenge to the Gods.
"I guess you've got a point." He said looking relieved but I felt my stomach clench.
I shouldn't have asked that. It was practically an invitation for the fates to get involved and the last thing I needed was for my mother worlds intruding itself into my mortal life.
"Everything's gonna be fine Max." I said not sure if I was saying this for him or myself.
